


This Side of Time

by yuletide_archivist



Category: Terminator (Movies)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-12-21
Updated: 2008-12-21
Packaged: 2018-01-25 09:06:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1643135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuletide_archivist/pseuds/yuletide_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Story by medie</p><p>on the other side, everything seems so much clearer.<br/>Or not.</p>
            </blockquote>





	This Side of Time

**Author's Note:**

> much thanks to azarsuerte for the emergency beta!
> 
> Written for Lizzen

 

 

*

"On the day the world ended, mine began."

She smiles as she speaks, a dull red flushing her cheeks. The admission embarrasses her. She knows the sober truth behind her words, understanding better than her listener the import of her own words.

Sighing, she shakes her head. "There's so much of the story no one will ever know." Her fingers move artfully as she works, no motion wasted, and her red hair shines in the dull light from the ceiling. "It's the only way, of course, we can never make them understand the truth, but it's not fair." 

She stops speaking and it's quiet, the thick concrete overhead muffling the sound of the explosions. Whether audible or not, they are there, the concussive blasts occasionally shaking dust down on them. Skynet is making another run at the complex. 

Tipping her head as if trying to listen to the battle, Kate waits for a moment before resuming her work. "It wants the device back." Her voice becomes almost conversational as she continues, "It won't get it." 

*

There have been multiple timelines. She has been Kate Connor in them all, even if she does not know it.

*

The universe has an obscene sense of humor. It's no secret if one cares to look. The most beautiful flowers can secrete a deadly poison and fire can paint images that would make Michelangelo weep. 

A cloudless, sun drenched day to usher in the apocalypse.

Kate's studying when she sees it; blue lightning jagged against a clear sky.

She's always been curious. Never could stay out of her Christmas gifts, always wanted to see what was around the corner, made her parents take childproofing to Herculean levels. Kate can't help wanting to know.

Kate likes to blame that for everything that happened next. If she hadn't been curious, she never would have gone looking around that corner...

...and never found out what a Terminator was.

*

Kate strikes a finger, swearing cheerfully. It's peculiar that she's more amused than hurt. When she glances up, it's with a smile. "If it hurts, you're still alive." She sucks the injured finger for a moment before saying, "You know, I never really understood that saying until Judgment Day."

She rises, leaving the workbench for a moment to go to the door. When she opens it, there's a guard outside, a man with sharp eyes and a gun. They share a murmured conversation that's too soft to be discerned. 

When she turns back, she shuts the door behind her. "I suppose Judgment Day did that for a lot of us." 

She picks over tools on another workbench, selecting first one and then another. "I know it certainly did for me." 

"You met John."

For a moment, Kate looks surprised by the sudden comment. Then she smiles, nodding. "Yes. I met John. At least, this time I did, God only knows what happened the other times." Bemused, she sits with the retrieved tools in hand and resumes work. "It's so strange, you know, to think there have been different timelines. That this has happened over and over again. John and I have lived entire lifetimes that we don't even know about." 

She stops and then corrects herself, "Well, _most_ we don't know about. I did get the cliff notes version about one from the Machine he sent back. The Machine _we_ sent back." Kate bends closer to her work. It's a feint meant to direct attention away from the emotion roughening her voice. This is a subject not often broached. The secrets of the Connors are well kept. 

Even from the Connors.

*

The machine looks at her, impassive, without blinking. It puts forward such a pale imitation of humanity that Kate can't imagine how anyone would be fooled by it. Not that they need to be fooled for long. 

She wonders if this is how; if the story it tells is part of the game. If so, she doesn't have much time left. Kate presses her lips together, guessing her chances of running as not good. "Why?" she asks, edging backward. "Why me?"

It stands, still naked. Kate realizes she's blushing and almost looks away. Unable to risk it, she doesn't. 

"It is imperative that you survive Judgment Day." It steps forward, following her step for step. Its casual reference to the deaths of billions is chilling. The thought of it twists her stomach and she gulps, fighting the urge to vomit. She will not lose it in front of this _thing_.Not that it matters. The machine - _Terminator_ \- continues to speak, heedless of her uneasy stomach. "...without you, John Connor cannot function at optimal efficiency. Such an outcome would likely lead to humanity's final downfall and Skynet's victory. Complete annihilation."

Kate gapes in disbelief, then starts to laugh. "You're trying to tell me that the absence of one woman could doom the entire human race?" 

It nods. "Yes."

Matter-of-fact. No hemming and hawing. Flat out admission.

"No." Kate turns away. "There's no way one person can be _that_ important."

"They can, if it is the right person." The Terminator's hand lands on her shoulder, artificially strong grip stopping her in her tracks. "You underestimate your impact on General Connor."

"I don't even know what that impact _is_ ," Kate says, shaking. The Terminator's hand is warm, friendly, and she wants to run, knowing she can't. "I'm a high school student. A military brat. My Dad -- "

She looks back. "Is that it? My father?"

The Terminator chills her to the core. It smiles. "Robert Brewster will have his role, but not the way you believe. He will assist John Connor in the recovery of military assets, laying the groundwork for the resistance you will lead with him. He is invaluable and has been planned for."

"But that's not it?"

It shakes its head. "No." Still that smile remains and Kate's scared. She backs away, holding up her hands. "I am not here to harm you." 

"Maybe not," Kate says, smiling. "I think I want to know why you are."

The Terminator shrugs. "You said that would happen."

*

The worst part about time travel, the most complicated part, is the extended argument with yourself. And you can't even have it face to face.

*

"I hated John at first." Kate sighs. "It's not fair of me, but I did." She's at the computer, an old laptop that's barely functional, but still functioning. "I couldn't imagine how someone could _do_ that. Just send a machine back in time and -- I didn't know how he could be so cold-hearted, dictating the path of someone's life from across time. Not even giving them the courtesy of saying it face to face." Her smile is faint. "It's different on this side of it." 

She looks over. "You'll understand in time. Desperation will make you do almost anything." The smile fades. "When you've got the entire human race looking at you for an answer, following everything you do like gospel -- " 

"Faust."

Again surprised, Kate smiles. "Yes, in a way it's a lot like Faust. We've sold our souls for an advantage we never should have had." She half-laughs. "We'll worry about the consequences later, providing we live long enough." 

She hits a key, watches the screen, and then closes the laptop. "When this is over, my conscience and I will have a lot to discuss."

"In the meantime?"

Kate shrugs. "John needs me." She rises. "That's the difference. The Terminator never told me the whole story. I didn't know I would marry him." There's nothing of arrogance in the words. If a human emotion could be ascribed to it, it would be resignation. She threads her way through the tables, back to the work bench. "I thought I was training for a war, teaching myself the skills I'd need to save the world." 

Her features soften, the dirt and tunnel dust on her face unable to hide the transformation. It's a look spoken of in the stories and songs quietly whispered among the tunnels. "Turns out, that was the easy part." She twists the ring on her finger. It isn't the traditional gold band humans exchanged before Judgment Day, but the reverence of her touch implies that doesn't matter. It likely does not. 

"General Connor."

Kate nods. She reaches out, brushing hair from her patient's face. "You don't save the world for the world's sake, Cameron. You save it for the sake of someone you love."

The door opens and her smile widens. "John." 

General Connor looks haggard, so tired he can barely stand, but it all changes at the sound of his wife's voice.

Cameron watches, still strapped down, as he closes the distance in seconds. Kate meets him halfway, letting him pull her close and bury his face in her hair. She murmurs something into his ear, kissing it. The whole scene is odd to observe, carrying some sort of impact that her programming cannot yet discern.

She counts off the seconds, nearing two minutes, before the Connors finally stir. 

"Are you sure about this?" Kate asks. She looks up at her husband, eyes sharp as she watches his face. Cameron has seen them engage in similar exchanges before, knowing that the General depends on his wife's judgment. So few others question him now, at least to his face. "You know the risks."

"No," John says with a tired smile, "I don't." He rubs a thumb along the curve of Kate's cheek, leaving a streak of dirt in its wake. "But we have to take the chance." 

Kate says nothing. Just looks at him.

He sighs. "I know." Kissing her forehead, he looks at Cameron. "Is she ready?"

Cameron looks at Kate. 

Kate takes a breath, slow and measured, before nodding. "As ready as she'll ever be."

*

"You don't trust me," Cameron says, standing outside the room. Inside, General Connor makes the preparations, bringing the time travel device to life. "With him."

Kate smiles. "I don't trust anyone with him."

It is pointless to make assurances. A human would. Promising fealty and a successful completion of the mission. Cameron does not do any of these things. "You have contingency plans."

Humans say much when they say nothing at all. Kate Connor's silence is no different. 

*

Changing the past is akin to knocking over dominoes. To meet an optimal outcome, plans must be put in place. General Connor has always been skilled with plans.

* 

_2015_

The bunker is cold and damp as the door closes behind her. Kate walks cautiously inside, then throws it to the wind, rounding on her kidnapper. "Why did you leave them?"

The Terminator, her former guardian, wrenches the handle of the door. They're sealed inside. 

Kate really doesn't give a flying fuck. She closes her eyes, seeing John dragged off by the machines. "They'll kill him," she breathes, horror stealing her voice away from her. She can't lose him now. Not yet. Not ever. They've barely started. Humanity still needs him. _She_ still needs him.

She swallows a sob and grits her teeth, willing herself to be calm. Hysteria's never worked on her little friend anyway.

"No, they will not. General Connor will be imprisioned at Century City work camp. You know that." The Terminator walks past her, deeper into the bunker. "Some things cannot change."

"Some do." Kate's smile is wry. "We used to be the same age I'm told."

"You still are." The Terminator's grin doesn't surprise her anymore. She's actually missed it in the years since it disappeared. "Why do you think you're here?"

"I think my idiot husband tried to be chivalrous again." Kate shakes her head. She will break him of that some day. At least, she likes to think she will. "Or I'm wrong and I'm the only person he trusts to save his ass?"

"You are, but not like you think."

The Terminator opens a door and when she sees what's inside, Kate stops in her tracks.

"No. No way. I am _not_ going back. I won't -- " She won't be separated from John. Not like that. Eight years is pointless. Immaterial now. She won't leave him. "I don't care what he told you!"

"Not back." Her guardian is already throwing switches and hitting keys. " _Forward_." 

The smile on her face now is one Kate knows well. It's John's. She throws up her hands. "I should've known. He never could leave well enough alone."

The Terminator pulls her forward, standing her in place. "It is not in his nature."

"No, it's not," Kate says. "So much for being the older woman." 

With a laugh, she lets Time take her. 

 


End file.
